With little under two months until the release of FIFA 16 across the majority of the globe, it's probably a good idea were begin to consider what some of our favourite superstars will be rated in the upcoming installment of the world's most popular football game. And where better to start than with, arguably, the best league in the world; the Barclays Premier League. Today's article will feature the ratings of complete XI's from the reigning champions Chelsea, the blue side of Manchester and one side of North London; check out Thursday's article for ratings from Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham and the best of the rest! I'll also be doing ratings for the other major leagues in Europe - the German Bundesliga, the Spanish Liga BBVA, the Italian Serie A and the French Ligue 1.
Please do remember though, these player ratings are NOT official. The player's positions are also NOT official, nor do they really mean anything, so please don't get bogged down over the positions they're in.
But without further ado, let's see how Chelsea could rate next season!
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Chelsea
They practically walked it, right? That's why, as a whole, Chelsea's ratings should be fantastic next season. I'd expect the likes of Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry, Cesar Azpilicueta, Nemanja Matic, Cesc Fabregas and of course Diego Costa to get deserved upgrades and could perhaps go even higher than I've rated them here. Of course, EA will take the very beginning of next season into consideration when deciding the player's ratings so if Chelsea get off to a flying start, don't rule out an 85 John Terry and Nemanja Matic or an 86 Cesc Fabregas.
Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard both played to the standard of their FIFA 14 ratings and will most certainly maintain those ratings; any higher however? I'm not sure. Hazard is certainly on the border between an 88 and an 89, and seeing as he was the 2014/15 Player of the Season, he could well receive an 89. For me though, he was consistently playing to the level of an 88 last season, never really any higher. Compared to the likes of Arjen Robben, who is of course a 90 on FIFA 14, I don't feel Eden can match that... yet!
A couple of players in Chelsea's XI for me that most certainly do not deserve upgrades however are Oscar and Gary Cahill. The former had another relatively inconsistent and disappointing season which could see him lose his 84 rating. As for the latter, I thought he looked thoroughly unconvincing at times this season and lacks the quality required if Chelsea are to go on and become a major European force. For example, over the Christmas period Cahill looked very shaky; remember their 5-3 defeat to Tottenham on New Year's Day, for example?
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Manchester City
The 2014/15 season was a disappointing one for Manchester City with many of their star players failing to perform consistently. Two players guilty of this are Yaya Toure and their captain Vincent Kompany. We're not doubting the Belgian's leadership qualities, however he had a hugely mistake prone campaign, especially in big games in both the Premier League and the Champions League. For the vast majority of the time, he was outperformed by his veteran defensive partner, Martin Demichelis, who could well earn himself an upgrade. As for Yaya, yes, he had the distraction of the AFCON to deal with and the fatigue he gained from the tournament won't have aided him in a sky blue shirt, however he found it difficult to hit the heights of previous seasons. His powerful, driving runs from midfield were certainly something City missed.
On a more positive note, both Sergio Aguero and Joe Hart had fantastic campaigns and are perhaps pushing for even further upgrades than I've given them already; an 84 for Hart and an 88 for Aguero wouldn't be an injustice by any stretch. David Silva was another man in blue who lacked consistency, however his 12 Premier League goals last term should keep his rating at an 87. Pablo Zabaleta deserves to be rated equally with Ivanovic in my opinion, whether it's at 82 or 83 after another solid campaign.
The other major talking point is City's latest £49,000,000 acquisition, Raheem Sterling. He's another one who didn't hit the heights that they managed in the 2013/14 campaign, however, can you see a player worth £49 million being kept as an 80 rated item? No, me neither. I can see him being bumped to an 81 or even 82, depending on how he starts the new Premier League season.
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Arsenal
They always seem so close, yet so far? Despite this, I genuinely believe Arsenal will challenge for the title in the upcoming season. They've made a very shrewd purchase in the form of Petr Cech; however I feel his FUT item may receive a small downgrade simply due to the lack of play time. They got the midfield maestros of Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla. If the German can stay match-fit for at least 30 matches, an improvement of ~10 from the 2014/15 campaign, well we all know he's capable of. Insert "Hello my name is Mesut, how may I assist you?" meme here and all that. As for Santi, he had his critics when he was moved into a deeper lying role in central midfield. However, if he can pick up where he left off at the end of last season, Arsenal could be in luck.
Two more players that Arsenal could do with picking up where they left off are French duo of Francis Coquelin and Olivier Giroud. Coquelin broke into the side shortly after Christmas and has been ever present since, making a real difference the more defensive side of Arsenal's midfield and will most certainly receive an upgrade. As for Giroud, he may have tailed off slightly toward the end of the season, yet from midway through December to the beginning of April, he banged in 14 goals for the Gunners and for that reason, he's another that should receive an upgrade.
Speaking of players that tailed off though and last but most certainly not least, I'm going to touch on Alexis Sanchez. Some could argue he had the Copa America, which of course Alexis and Chile won, in the back of his mind toward the closing stages of the season, however he was not matching some of the electric performances we saw him put in at the start of the season. I can see Alexis jumping Ozil in rating though - he was one of the players of the Premier League season, won the Copa America and also put in an outstanding performance in the FA Cup final; that 25 yard strike was a beauty!
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Below are some other standout players from these 3 clubs that I didn't put in their respective XIs, however I feel are worthy of some recognition in this article for one reason or another Remember as always to leave your thoughts in the comment section below!
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@Rawrdrigoo